It was around this time last year that fire filled the engine bay of Mark Carlyle’s IPS Motorsports-designed and built ’07 Corvette ZO6 as he went through the traps at Summit Motorsports Park, and even though the track’s safety team quickly doused the fire, the damage was extensive. But back in the pit area, he assured fans who had gathered that he would rebound and return, and after having the car rebuilt at IPS Motorsports and PK Race ‘N Rods, he did just that, in time for the Seventh Annual NMCA Muscle Car Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park just three months later. There, he posted a 7.19 via his Kurt Urban-designed 427 cubic-inch LS engine, All Pro 12-1 heads, twin 88mm Garrett turbos, RPM Transmissions’ Turbo 400 and ProTorque converter.

With continued help and support from his crew — Tom Willing, Jared Grabiel, Bob Williams and tuners Patrick Barnhill and Jason Lee of PTP Racing — he two months later ran a record-setting 6.69 at 217.84 mph in his independent rear suspension car and won in JE Pistons LSX Drag Radial at the Twelfth Annual NMCA World Street Finals featuring the Seventh Annual Chevrolet Performance LSX Shootout, at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indiana. And when some fans thought he had mustered every ounce of horsepower he could from his car, he bettered it with a 6.58 and a 223 mph at the Eighteenth Annual Haltech World Cup Finals Import vs. Domestic event at Maryland International Raceway in November.

Now, Carlyle — who's aiming for 4.20s in the eighth-mile and faster than 6.48 in the quarter-mile on radial tires in his full-framed car — is preparing to take part in Outlaw Drag Radial at the highly-anticipated 8th Annual Mickey Mart Rewards Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser, this weekend, May 16-18, at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. He’ll return to the park for the 8th Annual NMCA Muscle Car Nationals featuring the Chevrolet Performance LSX Challenge, Aug. 21-24 and the Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown at the Summit presented by Mickey Thompson Tires, Oct. 3-5.

“I’m really excited about the Cavalcade of Stars,” said the ever-calm and confident Carlyle. “When you’re at Norwalk, you need to be ready for great things to happen. We could be shooting fire or popping wheelies, but one thing is for sure, and that is that we’re ready to put on a great show.”